Energy Drinks Lead To Aggressive Behaviour In Teens

If the aggressive behaviour of your teenage child is irking you, then watch out for his/her intake of energy drinks. According to a latest study, energy drinks are actually promoting substance abuse and risk-taking behaviour amongst college-goers.

RIA Research Scientist Kathleen E Miller, PhD, led two studies which tried to establish a connection between energy drinks and public health concerns like substance abuse and risky behaviour. The researchers found out that energy drinks typically contain triple the amount of caffeine found in soft drinks, and in some cases, up to ten times as much.

The study was done by collecting data involving 795 Western New York male and female undergraduate students. It was observed that frequent energy drink consumers were approximately three times more likely to have smoked cigarettes, abused prescription drugs and been in a serious physical fight than less-frequent energy drink consumers or non-consumers.

Miller said, “Energy drink consumption is correlated with substance abuse, unsafe sexual activity and several other forms of risk-taking.” She further added, “For parents and college officials, frequent energy drink consumption may be a red flag or warning sign for identifying a young person at higher risk for health compromising behaviour.”

In the second study, Miller looked at energy drink consumption and an excessive concern for machismo. Some people are not happy just being athletes. They link sports with hyper-masculinity and a willingness to take excessive risks. This is termed as “toxic jock identity”.

The study, whose first set of results have been published online in the ‘Journal of Adolescent Health’ and the second in March/April issue of ‘Journal of American College Health’, showed that undergraduates who consumed energy drinks more often were also more likely to develop a jock identity and engage in risk-taking behaviours.